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The Duke of Cambridge revealed in a speech that his son’s favourite gift was a life-sized wombat given to him by the Australian Governor-General – which George has taken to ‘chewing lovingly’.

That very same wombat was seen being carefully loaded on to the family’s plane at Sydney Airport yesterday, as George’s inaugural royal tour drew to a close.

Bags of presents – several hundred in all – were also stuffed in the overhead luggage compartment of the Qantas jet. But aides have been forced to arrange for some of the larger items to be shipped back home to Kensington Palace.

Strict regulations concerning gifts were brought in a decade ago after it emerged that Prince Charles had pocketed £23,000 from selling valuables he had received from wealthy benefactors.

Members of the Royal Family are now barred from selling or exchanging their gifts.

Each one must be consumed by the royal, displayed in a royal residence or stored for future use – although low-value items can be given to charity or even destroyed.

Now George has begun a collection all of his own, which will be published in the list of official gifts next year.